Founding year: the first Oakwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Oakwood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakwood is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oakwood’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Oakwood’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Oakwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area where Oakwood currently is built was historically inhabited by the Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Pienkeshaw, all tribes of indigenous peoples; the indigenous peoples discovered the salts mines which would later become the start of the town's economy.
The first white presence in the area was that of the French, who documented the salty water near the Vermilion River in 1706. In the early 1800s, fur trappers employed by John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company arrived in the area. The indigenous peoples were driven westward into reservations as a result of several treaties over the course of the early 1800s.
Passages that mention Oakwood, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources1879Read the page →
Read the text
On the 18th of March Josiah Sandusky platted an addition between this last and the railroad. April, 1858, Josiah platted and laid out his second addition west of the original town. In 1863 J. H. Oakwood laid out an addition of two blocks north of the original town, and in October, 1867, McNair & Co. laid out and platted the Coal Shaft addition along the railroad west, and west of Sandusky's second addition.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The station at Muncie was first opened in 1876. William Lynch was the first agent. Since Dr. Fithian owned much land through Oakwood township when the railroad first went through a station was made on his farm and given his name. So it was Dr. Fithian had Mr. Guy, the county surveyor, lay out a village and plat the same which was filed in 1870. This plat was a perfect square, containing eight full and eight fractional blocks, lying on both sides of the railroad. This village was either more favorably located or was more extensively advertised than the other stations on the road, for it has been more prosperous.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources1879 · page 370Read the page →
Read the text
In 1871 he gave to the I. B. tfc W. road the right of way through a large tract of land in Oakwood township and five acres of land. The village of Fithian on this line of road was founded and named by the company in honor to the Doctor. He is a member of several of the medical associations, and is one among the oldest practicing physicians <»f the State of Illinois.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Oakwood, 1870 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Oakwood post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Oakwood rank for history?
Oakwood is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Oakwood?
14% of Oakwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1974.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
